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Regulating Insurance Markets: Multiple Contracting and Adverse Selection

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  • Mariotti, Thomas
  • Attar, Andrea
  • Salanié, François

Abstract

This paper studies an insurance market on which privately informed consumers can simultaneously trade with several firms operating under a regulation that prohibits cross-subsidies between contracts. The regulated game supports a single equilibrium allocation in which each layer of coverage is fairly priced given the consumer types who purchase it. This competitive allocation cannot be Pareto-improved by a social planner who observes neither consumers' types nor their trades with firms. Public intervention under multiple contracting and adverse selection should thus arguably target firms' pricing strategies, leaving consumers free to choose their preferred amount of coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariotti, Thomas & Attar, Andrea & Salanié, François, 2021. "Regulating Insurance Markets: Multiple Contracting and Adverse Selection," CEPR Discussion Papers 16531, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:16531
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    Cited by:

    1. Attar, Andrea & Mariotti, Thomas & Salanié, François, 2021. "Competitive Nonlinear Pricing under Adverse Selection," TSE Working Papers 21-1201, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Aug 2022.
    2. Dionne, Georges & Fombaron, Nathalie & Mimra, Wanda, 2023. "Adverse selection in insurance," Working Papers 23-5, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insurance markets; Regulation; Multiple contracting; Adverse selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law

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